Modesty Studios

Sorry about that, I turned 30 about a week ago and many things changed at once, including projects I'm working on. With Thanksgiving coming up, I'll have 4 free days to work on stuff. My plan is to set up my sewing machine and finish up the sewing needs for Tali's Costume. I've been negligent on that part. I will also remake the helmet to suit the new visor eventually, but first the sewing. The other project I've been working on and off is an RPG Maker game, currently unnamed. I made a wiki for it: http://centaurrpg.wikia.com/wiki/Centaur_Game_Wiki Along with that Dragon Age Inquisition came out...and I had to buy a new computer to run it basically. :P She's custom built. But now I have spare parts and computers to get rid of. I still haven't played the game yet...but I AM ready to. I'll post about the game on my Gamer blog.

Howdy Again,  I managed to get the legs to a place that will work for me. I've lined the styrene with foam rings and it velcros at the seam. It'll need painting and weathering. Everything needs more weathering. :D I've also got the fabric for the veil. It looks nice on the helmet. I first have to sew the trim before attaching it to the helmet. (Otherwise I know it'll just be falling off all the time.) The glove finger tips have been redone. Now they are tipped with duct tape. Duct Tape, the handy-man's best friend. :) Currently I'm considering re-doing the visor one more time. I got some violet iPoly Dye this time and this time I won't put ANY Tamiya paint on it. Just for a slightly better visibility. Still to do: Arm Belts (bicep and forearm), Hip belt, Bust Belts, Boot Knife, Mesh on shirt, Attaching armor to shirt, Shoulder bands, Neck Collar, Veil Trim, Painting boots. Hemming the pants. Possibly also attaching these pants to my capri pants. H...

Assuming things about your audience can definitely make an ass out of you (and me). And sometimes, it feels like some games designs are built on this foundation of assumptions about its players that might be excluding a large market. So what inspired this was something I noticed in my email. Several months ago, I had joined Lord of the Rings Online so I could keep in touch with my boyfriend who enjoyed WoW. It was a free MMO (since I was not quite willing to pay a subscription fee). And quite seriously a little gem in the MMO scene. Today I had received notice that their game guides had been updated and the message was very new player friendly. It had a colorful list of new player and beginner MMO guides to the game. When I had first heard about this MMO it was at GDC. A developer was explaining to me how LOTR Online was aimed for a more mature group of people and that it was not as 'immature' as WoW. Now my research on MMOs had pointed out that these games attract the mos...

Another bit of a rant about games, or really one game. Angry effing Birds. As an iPhone game developer, I can assure you that the easiest way to piss us off is to ask us about Angry Birds. In casual conversation when I bring up my profession, guaranteed 100% of the time the person will ask something along the lines of: Oh iPhone games, you mean like Angry Birds. Or my personal favorite: "Oh you know my son/daughter plays this one game alot...what was it?" Me: Angry Birds. (There is no intonation of a question in this response. It's a factual response.) "Yes that's the one." What. The. Duck. Seriously, has Angry Birds become the FACE of the App Store? It really feels like it has. Yay for that company...they have made it into infamy. And I get so pissed off seeing their fisking merchandise at the mall. Jealous? Perhaps a bit, but on the other hand I'm REALLY glad that an iPhone game has gotten that huge. That makes the platform meaningful for a wi...

So I spent some time catching up on all the buzz about E3. Well some of the buzz really. And while some may be excited, I've found nothing on the horizon that lifts my spirits. I'm starting to worry about the game development industry. Nintendo Not Cool Anymore? You know, I grew up with Nintendo. Its the company that got me back into gaming and was the only console we ever owned. I'm nervous about what this company is doing. The WiiU seems like a smart step as it is well...an iPad in disguise. Although I like the 3DS, I don't see any interesting or fun release titles. I bought a 3DS in part because of the new Zelda and Kid Icarus but mostly because I wanted a new DS that actually connects to my wireless and I can download games on. (Because its a platform my company is considering in the future). Perhaps Nintendo is banking on their portable devices since their gimmick devices are not doing so great anymore. However, the series that got me back into gaming, Legen...

Controversy and gaming can almost be synonymous. Reasons why or subject matters will offend differ between parties. However, most of this thought bubble was actually inspired by an anime series I started watching and feel confused about my feelings towards it. I feel like I have accepted the 'offense' no longer or never really offended me. Rooms with Elephants The series that sparked these thought bubbles is called " Hetalia: Axis Powers " which is an anime series where the episodes are 5 minutes of loose history about the relations of countries during WW2 and other points in history. All countries are 'personified' as characters with certain stereotypical traits. While the stereotypes are funny generalizations, they are generalizations made by a Japanese perspective. I've only gotten through season 2 but I keep waiting for that 'elephant in the room' to be acknowledged. The Axis powers did some pretty terrible things. Also America did something te...

Another thought bubble about narrative and games. I've touched on the topic of meta-game elements several times but now we meet it head on. (apply directly to the forehead.) First what do I mean by meta-game elements and stories? Where will this post go? Meta-Game I remember when I first ran into the term "meta-game" while studying table-top RPG games. For example, rolling the dice and points were meta-game elements. It could also mean elements that pertain to the game world but not the main focus of game play. In table top role play, the dice rolls and charts are necessary for the game but that is not the main focus of the game. That is to say that a person doesn't play D&D to roll dice...that's what Yahtzee is for. The goals of the game are to explore, complete tasks, and refine your character. For a digital translation, this would be interface or the repeated actions in a game. In a game with random encounters (like a J-RPG), the main focus of the game is n...

What's this? I'm playing a game only recently released!? Quick, run outside because it's probably raining candy as well. So actually this was just a case of good timing. Around this time last year, I gave up video games for Lent so I had to stop playing Dragon Age Origins. Then I got consumed by other things happening in my life that prevented me from coming back to the game until a week or two ago. I finished DA:O finally and DA:2 had come out only a week or so prior. To be honest I wasn't all that aware of this sequel nor of what it would be like. I wrote it off as a disinterest until seeing a video review on it. So I knew of the disappointments beforehand. And therefore set my bar pretty low. Right before buying, I check the DA wiki for information about the stuff I cared about...the romance options. This is always a selling factor for me in a game. And lo! What did I find? A. CHASTE. ROMANCE. OPTION. <---------- <:O WAHHHH? Despite it costing...

Narrative has become a packaged deal with video games. The need for well-written games is becoming a selling point and a norm. And this is a good thing. Narratives have had a good long history in video games and where it is heading is an interesting journey. Text Adventures/Point and Click Adventures When games appeared on computers they took the form of text adventures. Programmatic inputs were necessary to interact with the world. And for the most part, players had a very strong connection with the narrative and story. Even to the point where they cried. However, once these types of games became graphical like the Sierra Adventure games, a level of connection was severed slightly. While the input was the same, the output wasn't fuel for the players imagination. What could have been an epic was reduced to cartoon or comic style graphics. It's similar to the experience of watching Lord of the Rings animated and reading the novels. The iconic almost comical style of the ani...

When I was young, I role played all the time. When it was snowy out, I'd pretend I was a dinosaur and build a nest out of snow and pine needles. Sometimes I was an arctic fox or a squirrel or a unicorn. Sometimes I'd be my favorite Ninja Turtle or a Time Traveling Scientist. And there's some part of us that never really out grows this love of role playing...being someone we are not. RPG You could argue that ALL video games are in a certain sense a role playing game. (Just not in the genre). In a first person shooter, you are playing the role of a soldier, in a flight simulator you play the role of a pilot, in a real time strategy you play the role of a god. Yes you can be whoever you want to be in a game. You can disregard the rules of proper society and set things on fire without remorse or guilt. However, the concept of Role Play as in the RolePlaying Game is vastly different than my child-like concept of playing pretend. I don't get to immerse myself in a role playi...

For the past year or so, I've been playing with the design of a horse riding RPG type game and I find recently that it's pretty much been made to an extent. Yes, I finally got Red Dead Redemption and my lord it is a FUN game. I never was a fan of Westerns...not after reading Shane. *shudder* it haunts me so. However, I'm changing my mind on the genre ever since the movie, "Australia" and I got the idea for a story about a rough 'n' tough unicorn herder. (It's badass...I just need to draw it properly.) But RDR has gone ahead and done it for me pretty much with their Undead pack (which I will totally get just because I can rope and tame a unicorn.) I'm actually a bit sad someone beat me to the punch. Well, it's certainly been inspiring for me and it kind of works like a demo in a way for what I was planning. It also shows me the scope I can take it if I go the 3D route. Some things I might improve upon: Horse Stamina Meter - needs more of a...

I read an article on the Escapist about How Game Stories Suck because the protagonist doesn't change. It got me thinking about the role of characters in a game and narrative. Why don't game characters change? Dual Role In my narrative heavy games, I sometimes feel there is a disconnect between the narrative character and my avatar. The narrative has set up this character to seem like a certain kind of person. However, as I begin playing, the character is no longer like that. For example, when playing a game like Legend of Zelda, Link is set up to be heroic, courageous, and trusted. However the actions the player performs as Link are hardly heroic . The cover up of course is that the game narrative ignores certain player actions. Particularly in Role Play Games (RPGs). A game character has two roles in a narrative style game. The story character and the game character. Most games play these off as separate entities. This disconnect reduces the effect of change or perceiv...

How many stories do you know where there is a male protagonist out to save his kidnapped girl? There are quite a lot and I think it's a tale as old as time. Men are expected to defend their women. However, why does the story feel so alienating in a video game? The Analogy As I said the "save the princess" story is very old and deeply rooted in our culture/instincts. In animal terms, it is the story of winning females away from a rival and gaining exclusive mating rights. It speaks to our basic nature of males proving themselves to a female by show of strength. And there is something in us that accepts this. Women want strong men who can defend them. Men feel the need to show off their strength to impress said woman. Where the analogy falls apart is that in a story, the attention is always split to focus on one party or the other. If the focus is the captured princess (a la Sleeping Beauty/Snow White), then the Prince is not given much of a personality. He's just...

Wow, several months without a post. So bad! But things have been busy at work so I can't really complain. Plus I picked up a couple extra hobbies. :P In that time, I've also FINALLY gotten on the bandwagon and connected my PS3 to online play. Yay right? Currently only playing with co-workers as I hate playing with strangers. A co-work also gave me his old wide-screen HD TV. So now I can actually see what I'm playing! For PS3: I'm playing 2 games on and off: Sacred 2 and Valkyria Chronicles. (Not to be confused with Valkyrie Chronicles...which I screw up all the time. XD). Sacred 2 is a basic MMO - plot game where you collect quests, complete them and get stuff. I find the gameplay uninspiring and a little awkward since this is apparently a port from PC to console. :P Valkyria Chronicles is fun...when I get to actually PLAY. Sweet sister there's a lotta cinematics. (Thankfully they're all skippable...but there was a line I'm glad I didn't miss: "YOU...

Recently I finished playing two titles that I would consider very "girly". Meaning that the theme is something that would appeal to a female crowd between 9 - 12. The two games are Bella Sara Horse Adventure and Champion Dreams: Born to Ride. Horse games basically. Part of the purpose of buying these games was to do a bit of unofficial market research on games with horses. The other reason was guilty pleasure, I love horses. There were a few things I "learned" about these games since they are games marketed for girls. Girl Marketing In both games the main character was a female. One was an adult(Champion) and one was a pre-teen (Bella). Horse care or "caring" seems to be a common theme in a girl-themed game. (Baby sitting games, vet games, Sims, wow...isn't that just like handing us a baby? Er...baby doll. XD) Both games also has a collection element and a dress up element. (Both again guilty pleasures). I'll discuss the two games separately for a ...

Dang, two months and no posts? Well what can I blog about now? Well how about I write about various game makers eh? Thanks to the internet and programmers with energy for side-projects (or in some cases main projects) there are a plethora of game making programs for people who can't program but want to make a game anyway. Now there' s no way I could know or list them all but I'll make an effort to list what I do know, have used and like. Things Beginners Should Know You know that the favorite advertisement ploy for free engines is that "no programming is necessary". That's only HALF true or not really true at all. No programming is necessary but SCRIPTING is. And while some engines will provide you with shells to work within you still have to learn the script language to make things work. And heaven forbid you design a game that relies on the ADVANCED stuff. Not really a complaint but a heads up for any n00b who finds a programming-free engine and starts p...

There's this trend I notice in media that tries to obviously incorporate a religion's teaching into something popular. Be it comics or games, it always feels forced to me. I would know I've tried making a comic like that. Serious Games are often met with the challenge of teaching something. Some methods work better than others. And since I've now studied the theory behind it...I've learned which ones don't really work as well. As expected Christianity (Puritan-Protestant Christianity) usually is the subject being preached in the game. So let's do a short bit of history and then figure out if its really possible to make a FUN game with religion as its theme...or just a good one. Old Testament Style The few examples of Christian games I know of are from the Angry Video Game Nerd's Review of Bible games. These were basically reskinned games based on popular or unpopular Nintendo games. They took well known bible stories like Noah and the Ark and made a pl...

The look of a game is its selling point. In our market society, we judge a book by its cover so we judge a game by its looks. I've often complained about the looks of characters in some genres. So let's talk about graphics and realism. History Lessons When looking back on some of the earliest computer games, graphics were always the added bonus. For the most part the graphics were iconic. This means they were symbols or like hieroglyphs. The icons represented something else that we can translate in the context of the game situation. As the graphic abilities of computers advanced the less iconic graphics needed to be. They did not need to be abstract shapes to represent a player or an enemy. It could vaguely resemble what it was suppose to be. The semblance of what the game environment is and what we recognize as real are slowly becoming closer. The uncanny valley is all we have to watch out for. On the Trail Perception is what graphic style or visual style changes most in ...

Intro Today I'm going to reflect on in-game dialog choices. In some games they're just thrown in to give the user an illusion of choice. If done poorly they can take out the immersible quality of the game. This is mostly inspired by me playing lots of Bioware games and thinking back on dialog choices in other games. So I'll start with those. -Sample Games- Neverwinter Nights 2 (Obsidian) Knights of the Old Republic (Bioware) Harvest Moon Island of Happiness (Natsume) Harvest Moon Sunshine Islands (Natsume) Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (Nintendo) Okay here are the five games I'm going to look at for this post. We're going to start from the bottom and take a look at Zelda (from here on LOZ). LOZ is notorious for having false choices in the game dialogs. One of the more famed examples is in Ocarina of Time (N64) when Zelda first asks Link for help. You have the choice of saying "no" but what happens is you go through this endless loop of Zelda asking fo...